JP2011077440A - Substrate transfer apparatus and liquid crystal cell - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To eliminate necessity of carrying in/out a panel board for effective transfer when transferring the panel board one after another to a plurality of stages. <P>SOLUTION: A substrate-transfer conveyor 30 to transfer a liquid crystal cell 1 includes a plurality of transfer belts 31, and a negative pressure chamber 40 is formed with a negative pressure tubing 41 connected in the lower position of the transfer belt 31A installed in the position closest to the processing-objective region of the liquid crystal cell 1. The negative pressure chamber 40 has a length long enough to extend from a carrying-in stage 10 to a final bonding stage 13, and covered by the transfer belt 31A. Suction holes 42 are bored in the transfer belt 31A with a predetermined pitch interval, and are opened onto the transfer surface of the transfer belt 31A. When the liquid crystal cell 1 is placed on the transfer belt 31A, negative pressure suction force is activated in the liquid crystal cell 1 through the suction hole 42. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a substrate transfer device for transferring a panel substrate to each processing stage in a flat display device such as a liquid crystal display, a plasma display, and an organic EL display, and between the plurality of processing stages by this substrate transfer device. The present invention relates to a liquid crystal cell in which an IC circuit element is mounted on a liquid crystal cell as a panel substrate.

  As a flat display device, for example, a liquid crystal cell as a panel substrate of a liquid crystal display is composed of two glass substrates. A TFT circuit pattern and a color filter pattern are formed on the opposing surfaces of the two glass substrates, and a gap called a cell gap is formed between the two glass substrates. Is enclosed.

  Thus, a liquid crystal cell is a liquid crystal cell in which liquid crystal is sealed between two glass substrates, and a driver circuit is connected to the liquid crystal cell. The IC circuit element that becomes the driver circuit is a COG (Chip On Glass) system that is directly mounted on a liquid crystal cell, and a TAB mounting system that is mounted with a TAB (Tape Automated Bonding) COF (Chip On Film) with an IC chip mounted on a flexible substrate Are widely used. A fine wiring pattern is formed on the liquid crystal cell side. An anisotropic conductive sheet, that is, an ACF (Anisotropic Conductive Film) is attached to the portion where the wiring pattern is formed, and then an IC circuit element is placed on the ACF. The IC circuit element is preliminarily pressure-bonded and further pressurized by heating the IC circuit element to electrically connect the liquid crystal cell and the IC circuit element via the conductive particles in the ACF, and thermosetting the binder resin. Is fixed to the liquid crystal cell.

  In order to increase processing efficiency and reduce the size of the apparatus, a plurality of processing stages having respective processing mechanisms arranged in the transport direction of the liquid crystal cell are provided, and the liquid crystal cell is sequentially carried into each of these processing stages. Each process of affixing, temporary pressure bonding, and main pressure bonding is performed. Accordingly, in order to transport the liquid crystal cell to each of these processing stages, a liquid crystal cell transport device is provided. Conventionally, as disclosed in Patent Document 1, a liquid crystal cell transport apparatus is configured to transport a liquid crystal cell between stages by placing a liquid crystal cell on a suction table and using a transport means such as a feed screw. Widely used. Further, Patent Document 2 discloses a configuration in which comb-shaped transfer means provided on each stage is provided and a liquid crystal cell is delivered and conveyed by the transfer means. Further, as disclosed in Patent Document 3, a liquid crystal cell is sequentially transported to each stage using a belt transport unit.

JP 2003-69199 A JP 2007-99466 A JP 2003-76290 A

  By the way, when the liquid crystal cells are sequentially transported to each stage using the suction table as in Patent Document 1, after the processing at the last stage is completed and unloaded, the suction table is returned to the loading position. It is necessary to mount a new liquid crystal cell, that is, to move the suction table back and forth between the carry-in position and the carry-out position. Therefore, simultaneous processing cannot be performed in a plurality of stages, and there is a problem that processing efficiency is poor. As in Patent Document 2, when each stage is provided with comb-type transfer means, processing can be performed simultaneously on all stages. Similarly, the configuration of Patent Document 3 can be processed simultaneously in all stages. Therefore, the processing efficiency is improved from that of Patent Document 1. However, since it is necessary to transfer or move the liquid crystal cell between the transfer position and the processing work position in each stage, a time loss occurs, and the liquid crystal cell is positioned after the transfer. As necessary, there is still room for improvement in terms of efficiency and speedup of processing.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and the object of the present invention is to eliminate the need to carry in / out the panel substrate when sequentially transporting the panel substrate to a plurality of stages. The purpose is to further improve efficiency.

  In order to achieve the above-described object, the present invention provides a plurality of processing stages for carrying out predetermined processing and operations on the panel substrate, and for transporting the panel substrate to each processing stage. A substrate transfer apparatus for horizontally transferring the panel substrate, the substrate transfer conveyor arranged side by side with each processing stage, and opposed to the back side of the transfer surface of a transfer belt comprising an endless belt constituting the substrate transfer conveyor The negative pressure chamber that is sealed by covering with the conveyor belt, the negative pressure pipe connected to the negative pressure chamber, and the panel substrate provided on the conveyor belt and placed on the conveyor belt It is characterized by comprising a plurality of adsorption holes for adsorbing.

  Since the conveyance belt of the substrate conveyance conveyor is composed of an endless belt wound around a pair of pulleys, it has flexibility in the bending direction. The negative pressure chamber includes a bottom surface portion, left and right side surface portions, and front and rear end surface portions, and an upper portion is open. Then, the negative pressure chamber is sealed by covering the upper opening with a conveyor belt. Although the conveyor belt runs on the negative pressure chamber, the conveyor belt is sucked to the negative pressure chamber side at this time, so that it slides on the upper surface of the negative pressure chamber, and an airtight leak occurs in this part. There is nothing. Therefore, the slidability between them is improved, for example, at least one of the contact portions between the transport belt and the negative pressure chamber is formed of a low friction member, or low friction coating is performed.

  The surface of the transport belt is provided with suction holes by negative pressure. Adsorption holes are provided at regular pitch intervals. A suction hole provided in a portion of the transport belt located on the negative pressure chamber is placed on the transport belt and exhibits a function of sucking and holding the panel substrate to be transported. The belt is fixedly held at a predetermined position with respect to the belt, so that no misalignment occurs. As a result, the traveling speed of the conveyor belt can be increased. Therefore, it is necessary to cover all the suction holes facing the negative pressure chamber with the panel substrate. For this reason, the space | interval of an adsorption hole shall be longer than the space | interval of the panel board | substrate mounted in front and back.

  The negative pressure chamber should have a length that spans at least all stages. However, it is not necessary to use a single negative pressure chamber for all stages, and it may be divided into a plurality of negative pressure chambers. In particular, a negative pressure chamber divided into a plurality of processing stages can be provided. Here, since it is the outer edge portion of the panel substrate that is processed with respect to the panel substrate, a position that does not interfere with the portion to be processed is adsorbed. It is not desirable to adsorb over a wide area leaving the outer edge portion. The negative pressure chamber is elongated so as to perform adsorption in the narrowest possible region on condition that the panel substrate can be stably supported. In this case, the stability of the panel substrate may not be obtained only with the transport belt constituting a part of the negative pressure chamber. In this case, one or more other substrate transport belts are provided in parallel with the substrate transport belt having the negative pressure chamber. The other substrate transport belt can be provided with a member that receives a load at a lower position, but it is desirable not to provide a negative pressure chamber. Conversely, an air pressure for floating the panel substrate may be applied.

  The substrate transfer apparatus of the present invention can be configured, for example, to transfer between processing stages of ACF attachment, IC circuit element temporary pressure bonding, and main pressure bonding. In this case, the region to be processed with respect to the panel substrate is an outer edge portion. Therefore, the conveyance belt and the negative pressure chamber constituting the substrate conveyance conveyor are set to positions that do not interfere with the processing target area. Thus, the substrate is sequentially carried into each processing stage while the panel substrate is traveling in parallel with the stage. Then, the conveyor belt is fed at a predetermined interval. In addition, processing can be performed simultaneously on a plurality of stages. Accordingly, the processing can be made more efficient and faster.

  When the panel substrate is sequentially transported between multiple processing stages, it is not necessary to carry the panel substrate into and out of the stage from the transport path, improving the efficiency and speed of the transport, and the panel substrate being transported is unambiguously positioned. It can be supported stably so as not to cause displacement.

It is explanatory drawing which shows a part of liquid crystal cell as an example of a panel board | substrate, and the IC circuit element mounted in this liquid crystal cell. It is explanatory drawing which shows the whole structure of the mounting mechanism of the IC circuit element of the liquid crystal cell provided with the board | substrate conveyance apparatus which shows one Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 3 is a configuration explanatory diagram of an ACF attaching stage in FIG. 2. FIG. 3 is a configuration explanatory diagram of the provisional pressure bonding stage of FIG. 2. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a configuration of the main crimping stage in FIG. 2. It is a top view of the board | substrate conveyance apparatus which shows one Embodiment of this invention. It is a principal part external view of the state which mounted the liquid crystal cell in the board | substrate conveyance apparatus of this invention. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a negative pressure chamber.

    Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. First, FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a liquid crystal cell 1 in which two glass substrates are bonded as a panel substrate and liquid crystal is sealed therebetween. Here, the liquid crystal cell 1 is composed of a lower substrate 2 and an upper substrate 3, and the lower substrate 2 has at least one side protruding from the upper substrate 3, and a predetermined number of IC circuit elements 4 have ACFs 5 on these protruding portions. It is mounted using. Therefore, the liquid crystal cell 1 has a mounting portion 6 for a plurality of IC circuit elements 4. Each of the mounting portions 6 is composed of a predetermined number of wiring groups formed on the lower substrate 2 and has a fixed interval for each mounting portion.

  The ACF 5 is formed by uniformly dispersing conductive particles in a binder resin made of a thermosetting resin. In order to mount the IC circuit element 4 on the liquid crystal cell 1, first, the ACF 5 is attached to the protruding portion of the lower substrate 2 in the liquid crystal cell 1. Paste it. Thereafter, the IC circuit element 4 is temporarily pressure-bonded on the ACF 5 while being relatively positioned. Thereafter, the predetermined number of electrodes provided on the IC circuit element 4 and the wiring formed on the liquid crystal cell 1 are electrically connected to each other by the conductive particles contained in the temporarily bonded ACF 5, and the IC circuit element 4 is bonded with a binder resin. Is fixed to the liquid crystal cell 1.

  In the following description, it is assumed that the substrate transfer apparatus of the present invention is applied to the process of mounting the IC circuit element 4 in the liquid crystal cell 1. However, the substrate transfer apparatus of the present invention is not limited to this application. The processing stage shown in FIG. 2 includes a carry-in stage 10 for carrying in the liquid crystal cell 1, an ACF adhering stage 11, a temporary pressure-bonding stage 12, and a main pressure-bonding stage 13.

  In the carry-in stage 10, the liquid crystal cell 1 is carried in by an appropriate transfer means and positioned at a predetermined position. Next, in the ACF attaching stage 11, as shown in FIG. 3, ACF 5 is attached to the surface of the lower substrate 2 in the liquid crystal cell 1. For this purpose, the ACF adhering stage 11 is provided with a support member 20 that supports the lower surface of the liquid crystal cell 1 and an adhering means 21 for the ACF 5 from the upper part of the liquid crystal cell 1. Here, the ACF 5 may be attached so as to extend over the entire length of one side of the liquid crystal cell 1, but it is preferable that the ACF 5 is attached individually for each region where each IC circuit element 4 is mounted.

  The liquid crystal cell 1 to which the ACF 5 is attached is conveyed to the temporary pressure bonding stage 12. In the temporary crimping stage 12, as shown in FIG. 4, the IC circuit element 4 is connected to a predetermined position of the liquid crystal cell 1, and the IC circuit element 4 is held in a connected state to the liquid crystal cell 1 by the adhesive force of the ACF 5. To do. For this purpose, the support member 22 can be brought into contact with and separated from the lower surface of the liquid crystal cell 1, and a suction means 23 is provided at an upper position of the liquid crystal cell 1, and the IC circuit element 4 is provided with this suction means. The IC circuit element 4 is connected to the portion where the ACF 5 is attached after being attracted and held by the liquid crystal cell 23 and positioned with respect to the liquid crystal cell 1. A predetermined pressure is applied to the ACF 5 by the adsorption means 23. Here, even if the adsorption | suction means 23 is not heated specially or it heats, it is heated at the temperature below the hardening temperature of the binder resin of ACF5. As a result, the IC circuit element 4 is fixedly held in the liquid crystal cell 1.

  The liquid crystal cell 1 to which a predetermined number of IC circuit boards 4 are connected in the temporary crimping stage 12 moves to the final crimping stage 13. As shown in FIG. 5, in the final press bonding stage 13, the temporarily bonded IC circuit element 4 is heated from above by the pressurizing means 25 while the lower surface of the liquid crystal cell 1 is supported by the support member 24. The IC circuit element 4 is thermocompression bonded to the liquid crystal cell 1 by applying pressure. Here, the pressurizing means 25 may simultaneously thermocompress all the IC circuit boards 4 that have been preliminarily pressure-bonded by the temporary pressure-bonding stage 12, but in order to perform this thermocompression bonding more accurately, each IC circuit element Individually thermocompression bonding per 4

  In each of the processing stages 11, 12, and 13 described above, processing is performed. For this purpose, as shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the support members 20, 22, and 24 that support the lower surface of the liquid crystal cell 1 are liquid crystal. The retreat position is located below the transport surface of the cell 1 and does not interfere with the transported liquid crystal cell 1. Each time the liquid crystal cell 1 is transported to a predetermined position, the support members 20, 22, and 24 are lifted and can be moved up and down between the operating positions contacting the lower surface. On the other hand, the attaching means 21, the adsorbing means 23, and the pressurizing means 25, which are working means, can also be moved up and down. When the liquid crystal cell 1 is transported, the liquid crystal cell 1 and the IC circuit element 4 connected thereto are connected. Is held at a position raised to a non-contact state. When the liquid crystal cell 1 is arranged at a predetermined position, the attaching means 21, the suction means 23, and the pressurizing means 25 are lowered to come into contact with or pressurize at least the liquid crystal cell 1, The operating position.

  The carry-in stage 10, the ACF adhering stage 11, the provisional pressure-bonding stage 12, and the main pressure-bonding stage 13 are arranged in one direction, and the liquid crystal cell 1 travels in the direction indicated by the arrow in FIG. Are sequentially sent to each of these processing stages. Here, the supporting members 20, 22, 24 provided on the processing stages 11, 12, 13, the attaching means 21 as the working means, the suction means 23, and the pressurizing means 25 are all transported to the substrate in the retracted position. It arrange | positions in the position which does not interfere with the conveyance surface in the conveyor 30. FIG.

  The substrate transfer conveyor 30 has a transfer belt 31, which is wound between a drive pulley group 32 provided on a rotation shaft 32a and a driven pulley group 33 provided on a rotation shaft 33a. ing. The height of the transport surface of the transport belt 31 is such that the support surfaces of the support members 20, 22, 24 come into contact with the lower surface of the liquid crystal cell 1 when the support members 20, 22, 24 are in the operating position. It is in the position. The attaching means 21, the adsorbing means 23, and the pressurizing means 25, which are working means, can be moved up and down. Therefore, when the support member and the working means are in the retracted position, a part of the liquid crystal cell 1 overlaps them. Even if it is arranged at a position where it does, it will not interfere.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the conveyance belt 31 is composed of a plurality of parallel arrangements, and is the most processed region in the liquid crystal cell 1 arranged on the conveyance belt 31, that is, the region where the IC circuit element 4 is mounted. A transport belt 31 </ b> A that fixes the liquid crystal cell 1 is disposed at a close position. The liquid crystal cell 1 protrudes from the transport belt 31 to the processing stage side, and the processing target area of the liquid crystal cell 1 travels between a support member provided in each processing stage and the working means. Become. Here, the board conveyance conveyor 30 is set to pitch feed for each mounting portion 6 of the IC circuit element 4.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the transport belt 31A sucks and holds the liquid crystal panel 1, and for this purpose, a negative pressure chamber 40 is provided at a lower position of the transport belt 31A. The negative pressure chamber 40 has a generally bowl-like shape composed of a bottom surface portion, left and right side surface portions, and front and rear end surface portions, and the negative pressure chamber 40 has a length extending from the carry-in stage 10 to the main pressure bonding stage 13. It has a thickness. As shown in FIG. 8, a negative pressure pipe 41 is connected to the negative pressure chamber 40. The upper part of the negative pressure chamber 40 is opened, and the conveying belt 31A is in contact with the opened upper part. As a result, the negative pressure chamber 40 is closed. Accordingly, when a negative pressure is applied to the negative pressure pipe 41, the inside of the negative pressure chamber 40 is in a negative pressure state.

  Adsorption holes 42 are formed in the conveyance belt 31A with a predetermined pitch interval. These suction holes 42 are opened on the transport surface of the transport belt 31A. When the liquid crystal cell 1 is placed on the transport belt 31A, a negative pressure suction force acts on the liquid crystal cell 1 through the suction holes 42. As a result, the liquid crystal cell 1 is held in a state of being fixed to the transport belt 31A. Further, the other transport belt 31 is not provided with a mechanism for generating such a negative pressure adsorption force. However, the function of driving the liquid crystal cell 1 in the traveling direction together with the transport belt 31A is exhibited.

  Here, the negative pressure chamber 40 and the transport belt 31A are configured as narrow ones having a width dimension sufficient to provide the suction holes 42 for sucking the liquid crystal cell 1, and the load of the entire liquid crystal cell 1 is It is received not only by this conveyor belt 31 </ b> A but also by the entire substrate conveyor 30 including other conveyor belts 31.

  The liquid crystal cell 1 is carried in from the carry-in stage 10, and the processing stage is sequentially moved by the substrate carrying conveyor 30. In the carry-in stage 10, the position of the loaded liquid crystal cell 1 is adjusted on the transport belt 31 </ b> A in the substrate transport conveyor 30. The loaded liquid crystal cell 1 is pitch-fed by the substrate transport conveyor 30, and the pitch interval is made to coincide with the interval between the mounting portions 6 of the IC circuit elements 4 in the liquid crystal cell 1.

  In the substrate transport conveyor 30, the transport belt 31A disposed at a position closest to the processing target area in the liquid crystal cell 1 holds the liquid crystal cell 1 by suction, so that the liquid crystal cell 1 is displaced in a moving manner. It will not wake up. The negative pressure chamber 40 is fixed at a predetermined position, and the conveyor belt 31A moves forward while sliding along the upper surface portion of the negative pressure chamber 40. Accordingly, the sliding contact surface portion between the transport belt 31A and the negative pressure chamber 40 is provided with a coating for smooth sliding.

  Here, a negative pressure adsorption force acts on the back side of the conveyance belt 31A. The conveyor belt 31A is wound between the driving pulley 32 and the driven pulley 33. In order to smoothly move the conveyor belt 31A, it is necessary to provide flexibility in the bending direction. When the pressure in the negative pressure chamber 40 is extremely low, the conveyance belt 31A is bent and warped. However, the negative pressure chamber 40 and the conveyor belt 31A have a minimum width dimension, and a minimum negative pressure necessary for adsorbing the liquid crystal cell 1 is applied. As a result, the flat surface shape is maintained so that the portion covering the negative pressure chamber 40 of the transport belt 31A is not deformed, and airtight leakage does not occur. Therefore, the liquid crystal cell 1 can be reliably sucked and held through the suction holes 42 formed in the transport belt 31A.

  The transport belt 31 of the substrate transport conveyor 30 moves forward by a preset pitch, but the transport belt 31A holding the liquid crystal cell 1 by suction also moves in the forward direction at the same time. Therefore, the positional relationship between the first and second sensors does not change, and stable conveyance is possible. Since the conveyor belt 31A is formed of a narrow width, the conveyor belt 31A moves smoothly with a light load. Since the suction hole 42 is formed in the transport belt 31 </ b> A, the transport belt 31 </ b> A advances while sliding along the upper surface of the negative pressure chamber 40 when sliding along the upper surface of the negative pressure chamber 40. Further, since the negative pressure chamber 40 or the like is not provided in the other conveyor belt 31 among the plurality of conveyor belts, the liquid crystal cell 1 can be smoothly advanced, but resistance to feeding does not increase.

  When the substrate transfer conveyor 30 advances by one pitch, it stops, the ACF 5 is pasted on the ACF pasting stage 11, the IC circuit element 4 is connected on the temporary crimping stage 12, and the final crimping stage 13 is further connected. Then, the connected IC circuit element 4 is pressure-bonded. Here, since the liquid crystal cell 1 is transported by the substrate transport conveyor 30, the respective position adjustments at the ACF 5 attachment position, the connection position of the IC circuit element 4 to the liquid crystal cell 1 and the pressurization position of the IC circuit element 4 are performed. Are performed on the adhering means 21, the adsorbing means 23, and the pressing means 25 side, respectively. Here, since the liquid crystal cell 1 is roughly positioned in the carry-in stage 10 and the position of the liquid crystal cell 1 is not changed by the negative pressure acting on the conveyor belt 31A during the conveyance, the position is detected by image processing. The positions of the attaching means 21, the adsorbing means 23, and the pressing means 25 are adjusted. This position adjustment can be performed accurately and quickly. And since the position shift of the liquid crystal cell 1 does not occur during the conveyance, the liquid crystal cell 1 can be moved at a high speed by the substrate conveyance conveyor 30, and the overall processing speed can be increased.

  In the embodiment described above, a single negative pressure chamber 40 is provided continuously, but the negative pressure chamber is not necessarily a series. As described above, since the processing stage is composed of the three stages of the ACF adhering stage 11, the provisional pressure bonding stage 12, and the main pressure bonding stage 13, a negative pressure chamber divided into three parts can be used. Each negative pressure chamber is connected to an independent negative pressure pipe. This eliminates the need to stop the entire apparatus even if the liquid crystal cell 1 has to be removed at any of the processing stages.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Liquid crystal cell 2 Lower board | substrate 3 Upper board | substrate 4 IC circuit element 5 ACF 6 Mounting part 10 Carry-in stage 11 ACF sticking stage 12 Temporary pressure bonding stage 13 Main pressure bonding stage 30 Substrate conveyance conveyor 31, 31A Conveying belt 40 Negative pressure chamber 41 Negative pressure Piping 42 Adsorption hole

Claims (7)

In order to perform predetermined processing and operation on the panel substrate, a plurality of processing stages are installed, and in order to transport the panel substrate to each processing stage, in the substrate transport apparatus for horizontally transporting the panel substrate,
A substrate transfer conveyor provided side by side with the processing stages;
A negative pressure chamber disposed opposite to the back surface side of the transport surface of the transport belt composed of an endless belt constituting the substrate transport conveyor, and sealed by being covered with the transport belt;
A negative pressure pipe connected in the negative pressure chamber;
A substrate transport apparatus comprising: a plurality of suction holes provided on the transport belt and configured to suck the panel substrate placed on the transport belt. A plurality of the conveyor belts are arranged in a direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the panel substrate, and among these conveyor belts, the conveyor belt provided at the position closest to the processing stage is on the back surface side of the conveyor surface. 2. The substrate transfer apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the substrate transfer apparatus is provided with one or a plurality of negative pressure chambers divided in the transfer direction. 2. The substrate transport apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of panel substrates are installed side by side on the transport belt, and the interval between the suction holes is longer than the panel substrate. The plurality of processing stages include an ACF attaching stage to the panel substrate, a temporary pressure bonding stage of an IC circuit element to the panel substrate, and a final pressure bonding stage for thermocompression bonding the IC circuit element to the panel substrate. 4. The substrate transfer apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the substrate transfer apparatus is formed in a line, and the negative pressure chamber has at least the lengths of all the processing stages. The substrate transport apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the processing target area of each of the panel substrates at each processing stage is transported so as to protrude from the substrate transport belt. 5. The substrate transfer apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the panel substrate is a liquid crystal cell. A liquid crystal cell manufactured by mounting an IC circuit element using the substrate transfer apparatus according to claim 6.

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